Caribbean Rum Cake

I’m currently sampling a rum punch brought back from Antigua by my traveling friend, this recipe from Culinary Escapade for Caribbean Rum Cake would be the ideal accompaniment.

I’ve sampled the Tortuga Rum Cakes before and they are, as you would expect, absolutely lovely. There is something special about a cake that you have made yourself however, so try this recipe, it looks delicious!

My sister just came back from a week long trip to Jamaica. She brought back some Tortuga rum cakes and was raving about how moist and delicious they were. Her biggest complaint was the fact that you could only get them in the Caribbean and that they were tiny.

Needless to say that after listening to her describe said cake, I was hankering for some myself. Out the window went my diet, but it was well worth it.

See the full recipe at Culinary Escapade.

Mojito Ice Lollies / Ice Pops

There is a fantastic recipe on the Simply Piee blog for Mojito ice lollies.

Brilliant idea and I will be attempting these myself.

This is a fairly simple recipe and it is easy to adjust to your taste. For example, I prefer my mojitos more sour so I put less sugar in the recipe. Also, I love rum so I increased the rum ratio. I should warn you, if you put too much rum, the mixture will not set.

Be sure to head over to the Simply Piee blog to read the full recipe.

Seven Tiki Aged Rum Review

As the Spiced Rum variant of Seven Tiki has just been launched in the US (rolling out in California and Florida) I thought I would take the opportunity to review the aged rum.

Seven Tiki Aged Rum is a Fijian rum made with the finest quality Polynesian sugar cane and the purest water in Fiji.

It has a very smooth taste but is full bodied comparable with the larger brands of aged rum. As a sipping rum this is a definite alternative if you’d like to try something different. It doesn’t quite have the same pull for me as the Caribbean rums but as an ingredient in a cocktail or with a mixer this is perfect.

At only £18.62 at the time of writing, it comes in cheaper than most of the big brands and for a premium aged rum that price is incredible.

English Harbour 5 Year Old Dark Rum Review

Produced and bottled in Antigua, English Harbour 5yr old is a multi-award winning rum. It is distilled in copper stills and aged in small oak casks. It has a rich, dark amber colour that reminds me of making toffee as a child with my mother.

As a newly converted rum drinker I was unsure where to start. My local specialist had a number of different rums for sale, but this one stood out for some reason. Perhaps it’s because the packaging looks like something a pirate would drink! For preference I drink this with ice, lime and diet-coke in a tall glass and I find it to be a full-bodied and flavoursome drink. Subtle yet pungent with a sweet taste, somewhere between caramel and cinder toffee, which is complimented by the mixer. I have tried a number of dark rums since, but I consistently return to this brand.

Although it is not the most subtle of flavours, it is certainly the brand I would use to introduce someone to the joy that is dark rum.

Mai Tai Cocktail Recipe

The Mai Tai cocktail (roughly translated from Tahitian as Out of This World) is a firm favourite with rum fans and cocktail fans in general, the reasons are obvious if you try this cocktail recipe yourself.

A few of these and you will be out of this world too…

Ingredients:

• Crushed Ice
• 30ml of Bacardi
• 30ml of Mount Gay
• 15ml of Cointreau Orange Liqueur
• 15ml of Amaretto Almond Liqueur
• 15ml of Lemon Juice
• 90ml of Pineapple Juice
• 90ml of Orange Juice
• 15ml of Sugar Syrup
• Dash of Grenadine

Optional Garnishes:

• Pineapple Slice
• Lime Slice
• Mint Sprig
• Cocktail Umbrella

Half-fill large goblet glass or any tall glass with crushed ice, add the ingredients in the order they are listed above. Then stir well and garnish with what you have, you can just use a mint sprig and lime slice for a more traditional garnish but I like to throw it all in there.

You can substitute the Mount Gay for any quality gold rum.

Enjoy, If the weather improves today I’ll be sampling a couple of Mai Tai cocktails myself this evening.

Cruzan Aged Dark Rum

Everyday Drinkers have recently reviewed Cruzan Aged Dark Rum:

Cruzan’s Aged Dark Rum has a great thick viscosity which compliments the slight sweet vanilla flavors.
… While Cruzan Aged Dark Rum is a fine sipping rum it does lack some of the complexities found in more expensive alternatives.

Read the review at Everyday Drinkers.

Dark and Stormy Cocktail Recipe

Apart from the Cuba Libre (Dark rum and coke, wedge of lime) this is the easiest dark rum cocktail to make but as with most dark rum cocktails is ideal for summer. Very refreshing.

Ingredients:

• Goslings Black Seal
• Fentimans Ginger Beer
• Wedge of Lime

Really easy to do, fill a tall glass with ice then add equal parts Goslings Black Seal Rum and Ginger beer. Garnish with the lime wedge and enjoy.

How to get started with Rum

RumDood has posted the first of a new series called Rum101, in his post he covers his idea of the best rum in all categories.

White Rum – Flor de Cana Extra Dry

Gold Rum – Mount Gay Eclipse / Appleton Estate V/X

Spiced Rum – Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

Aged Rum – Appleton Estate 12 Year Old

Definitely a very nice selection of rums to get your home bar started. I don’t think I’d change anything in his list, he does suggest Mount Gay Extra Old as a runner up in the Aged category, and that is my current favourite rum.

Be sure to read the post at RumDood.

StogieGuys Review Angostura 1824 Reserve Rum

The Stogie Guys have a fantastic review of Angostura 1824 Limited Reserve Rum on their blog.

This highly esteemed rum honors the year Angostura got its start as a maker of concentrated food and beverage flavorings. The Trinidad & Tobago-based company’s beginnings can be traced back to 1824 when a surgeon general in Simón Bolívar’s Venezuelan army sought to improve the appetite and digestive well-being of the soldiers.

It is made from “the finest mature rums, hand-picked by the master blender from select casks.” Aged in charred American oak bourbon barrels for at least 12 years, the rum is hand-blended and re-casked until it reaches its “optimum maturity” before it is hand-drawn. Each individually numbered bottle of Angostura 1824 is decked out with a gold ornamental medallion and a wax-encased cork. Dark with a brilliant reddish hue, it pours with a pungent nose of sweet, smoky notes that include fruity orange and raisin and creamy honey and vanilla.

Read the review at StogieGuys

The Perfect Dark Rum Mojito

This very popular Cuban rum cocktail is perfect for summer, it has wonderful cooling effects whilst still packing quite a kick.

This cocktail was a favourite of writer Ernest Hemingway and is enjoyed by millions as the perfect summer drink.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp of Sugar (soft dark brown sugar is ideal)
• 6 Mint Leaves
• Juice of half a lime
• Crushed Ice
• 2 Measures of dark rum (a golden dark rum is preferable, such as Mount Gay or Havana Club)
• Soda Water

Put the mint leaves, sugar and lime juice into a tall glass and muddle together. Add the crushed ice and rum then top up with soda water. Garnish with a mint sprig or leaf.

Feel free to substitute the rum with your favourite brand of dark rum, I would not recommend using navy rum as it is too heavy to do this cocktail justice.